Pitching for the Prize

Students compete for $10K at TeleBrands Inventors Day for Aspiring Entrepreneurs.

Photo: Mike Peters

The winning team members of Sport Your Sole.

It was a fashion item for the bottom of shoes that rose to
the top to win the $10,000 prize in the first-ever student pitch competition at
Montclair State University.

The five students on the winning team, Sport Your Sole, will split the $10,000
award in the TeleBrands Inventors Day for Aspiring Entrepreneurs held May 13 on
campus. Some students plan to invest the money in the business while others
plan to put their award toward student loans.

“It was a great way to tie the whole journey together,” said Mac Krauss, a
junior Psychology major on the winning team. “It was a nice culmination to all
the hard work.”

AJ Khubani, president and
CEO of TeleBrands and a Montclair State alumnus, was the lead judge for the
competition and the major sponsor of the event. The judging panel also included
TV pitch personalities Anthony
“Sully” Sullivan and Cathy
Mitchell.

When he announced the winner, Khubani said the judges had narrowed their choice
to two teams: Sport Your
Sole and Interviewnomics,
a service to help job seekers interview better. Sport Your Sole seemed to have
the edge with the judges because they had already sold their product to
students and alumni at Montclair State, helping to validate their product and
business model.

Khubani said he thought the four teams presented extremely
professionally, and that he enjoyed being the lead judge at his alma mater. “It’s
great to come back to your school and to be recognized—all kinds of attachments
and nostalgia,” he said.

Khubani ate lunch with the five students on the Sport Your Sole team, offering
advice about how the team can advance its business. The winning students found
the one-hour lunch with Khubani priceless.

“It was invaluable,” said Caroline Regan, a nondegree undergrad who came up
with the idea for Sport Your Sole’s product. “He’s already sat there and
thought about it. There is no one else who can do it properly, other than him.”